Gardening in North Otago August 25th 2016

September: Spring is here after a start stop winter.

So far magnolias, camellias, daffodil and jonquil bulbs confirm the above and after those lovely spring days last week blossom will be not far behind along with weeds! Now it begins, address those weeds with a hoe while small and the spray unit can stay in the shed for a while yet. For paved areas and drive ways that have been cleaned of small weeds there is a product call Ronstar that can be used to stop new seeds germinating, it comes in a granulated form and you sprinkle it on like salt, it will have no effect growing leaves (hence applying weed free ground) it makes the ground sterile stopping seed germination.

Roses are budding and leafing now, wait until leaves are fully out and not too soft before starting folia feeding and a fortnightly spray program. The most important component for roses right now is food, rose fertiliser, old manure or manure enriched compost 

around the drip line and watered in will get you wonderful results further into the growing season. 

Hydrangeas here are all pruned and fed now with buds swelling, they have come through the winter well.

Enjoy the spring blooms but start thinking summer colour now... this is where you can paint your own garden canvas, hot colours to zaz up an area or whites silvers and greens to tone down harsh background colours and blues to pull them all together.

Where there is dirt filling with flowers will leave no room for weeds, for low maintenance gardens with trees, shrubs and mulch cover you can create pockets of colour with annuals between the shrubs, If you have weed mat to deal with just scrape away the mulch and with a craft knife cut a section of weed mat on 3 sides, fold it under at the point edge and fill the dirt gap with annuals then replace the mulch around them. Once they have finished flowering for the year just remove before they seed and pull the folded flap of weed mat back over the area and re-mulch, a splash of colour among green shrubberies makes all the difference to a summer garden.

Vegetables:

Veg plots need attention now, weeds gone and compost dug in ready for seeds and seedlings, best not to sow or plant straight into mulch containing animal offal, this proves to be too strong but fine to spread around when new plantings have developed strong roots. Soil containing organic matter is best for new plantings and seed raising mix along rows when sowing seeds will gain good results.

I have sown corn and pumpkin seeds early and will nurse with cover for as long as it takes to give them a long growing season.

I also have sprouted potatoes going in early and these will need protecting from late frosts as well, covered at night once through the ground.  

Fruit:

Berries are budding up to flower, they would appreciate organic mulch and a dressing of feriliser high in potash. Strawberry plants are beginning to move into budding as well, my plot needs a lot of attention and building up with manure enriched compost and I am hoping I can find some plants remaining after the winter under all the chic weed.

Cheers, Linda

Gardening in North Otago August 16th 2016

With the days drawing out, birds building nests and fat furry magnolia buds opening we are moving out of winter and into spring!
English lavenders can be cut back now because I see them starting to put out new growth. Really old woody lavender bushes can be cut back hard to encourage new lower growth, time to replace them if they do not respond. Newly planted lavenders just need a hair cut. Feed them manure enriched compost and a little lime. Also catmint and purple sage has had all the winter protection cut off here.
Softer shrubs that are encroaching on drives and walkways can be trimmed back , they will soon recover with new spring growth. I have been reducing the height on some of my taller shrubs like phebaliums, pittosporums, psudopanax . You can do this if height is a problem without spoiling the shape.What I do is cut out the center branch down to where the other branches bush out, this removes the natural point at the top of the shrub and will sometimes reduce the height by 2 or more meters. Shrubs will soon send up a new leader. This sort of control at the start of the growing season works well because plants heal quickly, leave doing this for another month further inland.
A lot of climbers are in bud now ready to do their thing so when trimming watch you are not cutting off new buds. Hardenbergia ( happy wanderer) flowered in early winter so that is one that can be cut back, honey suckle can also be trimmed now, jasmines have been knocked by frosts in my garden, I will leave them a bit longer.

If you have still not pruned and feed your roses do it as soon as possible! they are moving fast now and need food kept up to them if you want them to stay healthy. The bags of pig manure I ordered last month arrived in the weekend, such a bonus for our garden.
If you have no time to do anything else in the garden now feeding plants is a must for health and vigour to take them right through to autumn, it is well worth the effort and will minimize disease. Slow release fertilisers are a safe bet for continual feeding over a long period. They are very clean and easy to apply, and now days formulated to feed specific plants.
Now would be a good time to mention plants that resent being fed. Many South African plants and Australian natives such as proteas, leucodendrons, banksias, and all grevillia's do not need feeding. I have lost some of these because they had absorbed fertiliser from neighbouring plants, also no food for tulips it will encourage more leaf than flower.

Keep an eye out for flowering camellias and rhododendrons now in the garden centers, most are showing buds and flowers, this is the time to choose the right shades for your garden, they thrive in semi shade or afternoon shaded areas of the garden.

It's the perfect time to sow seeds under cover as I mentioned last week, the seeds I planted two weeks ago are up already, Any seeds that say spring sowing on the back of the packet can be planted now, I use a tray of compost / soil with a layer of seed raising mix on the top.This way your seed raising mix goes further. Once planted cover the trays with plastic or glass, but use spacers to let air circulate between the plastic / glass and tray.

Fruit and Vegetables
This is also the time to give fruiting shrubs and trees a dressing of pot ash, to help with fruiting.
If you plan to grow vegetables this year get the garden ready now, dig in some weed free compost and let the soil settle again.
In area's not be planting out for a while why not sow a green crop to add humus to tired soils, mustard, blue lupine, barley or wheat, dig in when lush, soft and green.
Deciduous fruit trees should be planted in August at the latest along with all small fruits and now is a good time to shift citrus trees.

Cheers, Linda. 

Gardening in North Otago August 9th 2016

Snow, frozen ground and cold hands in the past week, proper winter weather at last.
Birds are hungry and beginning to nest, with the help of Poppy and Maggie (Grandies) I melted dripping and stirred in bird seed, while it was firming we pressed into three balls. The Girls climbed trees and pushed them into v branches for the birds to enjoy instead of stripping my veg.
Morning frozen ground makes it impossible to work in soil so Garden design is what I can concentrate on with never being short of clients. But usually with frosts come brilliant blue sky and sun, well worth cold fingers and here on the coast the afternoon thaw allows me to get out and do what needs to be done.
 I am full on thinking about spring and what I would like happening in our garden, now is the the time to hatch plans for planting, dividing and shifting. I planted a standard weeping mulberry two years ago which had an under planting of acanthus mollis (oyster plant) which had taken over. After many weeks of digging it out ( with help) I think we have finally got rid. I visualized a mass planting of Russell lupin in its place so set about digging up random lupin plants growing here and there and have now filled the space which should be very colourful come spring, and once finished flowering will cut back and plant cosmos amongst to take that garden right through until winter.
If something does well in a garden bed why not fill with the same plant to make a colourful impact, I have done this with hydrangeas, ranunculus, nandina, same shade roses, hellebore's and same shade dahlias. A planting as this fills a space and if mulched allows no room for weeds. Spring bulbs planted this way always give the best show rather than different varieties planted together.

A few more hydrangeas have been pruned as nice fat buds are swelling on the stems and cuttings taken and bedded in from the hardened stems that had flowered.  A shaded moist area is best for bedding these down and hopefully roots will grow to feed the buds. Some times I get good results by covering the cuttings with a box keeping the light out to hold the buds back to encourage roots.
Old wood can be cut out of  wigelias and spirea bushes, you can tell which branches they are because the wood looks old and spent compared to the new fresh wood.

Almost finished pruning roses here, only the flower carpet and fairy roses to go, both these varieties bush up with small non hard wood branching and if large, bushes can be trimmed with a hedge trimmer. If newly planted and small prune back to hard wood at an outward facing bud. Feeding and spraying my roses is next, copper oxychloride and winter oil, they can be mixed and applied together as the oil helps the copper to stick and copper helps protect new growth from frosts that occur in late spring. Best not to be applied to fresh new growth when burning may occur,
Vegetables and fruit
Fruit Trees are still available in Garden Centres. If you think your garden is too small for fruit trees, I mentioned dwarf peach and nectarine trees last week and will mention Ballerina apples this week. A very slim non branching variety of apple with Medium to large, red skin on areas exposed to the sun. Crisp and juicy, nice eating and cooking, similar in flavour to ‘Jonathan, growing to 3-4m tall by 30cm wide perfect for adding height to a small garden.
Still time to get grapes pruned before sap rises, to prune a fruiting leader remove all new long growth on the vine other than the fruiting leader, on the leaders prune each new growth back to the second bud. These fruiting buds should be around a hand space apart to ensure adequate sized fruit, this means removing some of the new bud growth along the top of the leader and all of the new bud growth growing underneath. Some of these new budding top growths will throw two lots of bud branch, remove the least stronger one leaving only one lot of double buds to produce fruit.
 Vegetable gardens are enjoying frosts breaking down the soil, I am still digging carrots, the parsnips are still growing regardless of such cold conditions. I have had to cover leaf veg from the birds with shade cloth. Time for sowing seeds to germinate in a warm place to be ready for planting out in a warm spring garden.
Cheers, Linda.

Gardening in North Otago August 2nd 2016

Brrrrr, now because of the snow falls needed by skiers we are getting the frosts and best of all for North Otago we were blessed with another soaking rain this week. Bulbs that shot up during those warmer days will continue to head for an early spring display but the cold temperatures now will hold buds and have a noticeable effect on soft new growth. However rhododendron Christmas cheer and prunus autumnalis are in full flower and the fragrance from winter sweet, witch hazel, Daphne, boronia and violets wafting about our garden make it a joy to work in, cold fingers and all.   

Pruning has started here, as well as humping straw bales and barrows of gravel in readiness for the spring explosion and this is time for me to create and dress the garden by planting out, shifting and feeding. I am liquid feeding annuals and perennials that have been nursed through winter, folia feeding will help all new leaf, budding and flowering plants from now on, roots are starting to take in nutrients to plump up buds. This week I have noticed nice fat buds swelling on the stems of my hydrangeas, I have started pruning the more sheltered bushes but still leaving the more exposed a little longer. Prune only those stems that have flowered, cut at an outward facing bud second bud from the bottom, leave all other stems because these are the flowers for this year. Spread old stable manure around the drip line and once again a reminder, it is a dressing of lime for pink flowers and aluminum sulphate for blue, White never changes, but are best planted in light shade. The use of coffee grinds, grass clippings or pine needles spread around the drip line can help to lower the PH of pink hydrangeas and encourage them into shades of purple. I have found I can pull rooted branches from the base of big old gnarly hydrangea bushes, these take a few years to bush up but it is a sure way to replicate a special variety that. 

While raking out the last of autumns leaves that had blown under shrubs I come across branches from shrubs laid down in soil forming roots, viburnum, choysia, camellia and hydrangeas. Most shrubs growing low to the ground can sometimes drop a branch into the soil and form roots, this can also be purposely done at the beginning of spring by pegging branches down into a hole in the soil, roots should develop at the point covered with soil. Making a small wound on the portion of the stem that is to be buried will help to stimulate root development

Cut the old growth from peony roses now and destroy, disease can winter over on last years stems but be careful not to knock the new pink shoots emerging from the tubers. Cut the old growth from dahlias now as well, if thick and tubular bend the cut stalk over to prevent rain water building up inside which will lead to rot in a tuber.

Remove soil from bearded iris rhizomes, they need to be partially exposed to give the best flowering. 

With roses making a move to bud up they will be taking in food, powdered rose food needs watered in around the drip line, slow release fertiliser will work each time it rains and manure out from the crown. Trees and Roses are still available in Garden Centres, If you think your garden is too small for trees, I have seen dwarf Peach and Nectarine Trees on offer,if you need a tittle tree growing to a width and height of 1.5 metres. to add height in a part of your garden why not have one that blossoms beautifully and then gives you fruit. 

Vegetables: The veg I have in are holding well despite the weather extremes, frosty areas inland can make a start now by adding some compost and a little lime in readiness for when you plant out later this month. 

Fruit: Prune newly planted fruit trees, this is probably the hardest cut you’ll make, but the most important. Cut a new tree at about hip height, do this whether your wanting a vase shape or a single leader. If the main branches start here they’ll be reachable when fully grown. 

Lets hope we don't get too many dull overcast days by the time fruit trees blossom, we need those wonderful bee's to come out and set to work pollinating.

Cheers, Linda